SPRINTERS nudged Liverpool Harriers to a fourth place finish at the McCain Young Athletes League Northern Regional Final over the weekend.

Having qualified for the northern final thanks to a second place league finish, the under-17 squad faced the nightmare of fielding a weakened squad on finals day, forcing a number of athletes to multi-event in very unseasonal weather.

Over the short distances, Justin White smashed the field to win under-15 gold by half a second over 100 metres in 11.5.

The youngster followed up this fine effort with a 23.3 200m run which earned him a silver medal.

Michael Tapa would come close to replicating his younger teammate’s heroics in the under-17 age group as he bagged more crucial points with a second place finish in both 100m and 200m competition.

Tapa clocked 22.6 over 200m but his 11.3 display over the straight 100m was not enough to overhaul Sale Harrier Roy Ejaikuekwu who took the gold.

Paul Tyson also dug deep for the club as he produced a timely PB in under-15 1500m action. The 14-year-old’s 4:26.0 run earned him second place behind Preston’s Patrick Dever while in women’s action, Alice Mansfield produced a season’s best of 25.8 to take the points and the spoils from Beth Bolton of Sale (25.9).

Other noteworthy victories from Aylish McKenzie (1.65m) in high jump competition and Abbie Oliver (2:29.1) over 800m secured the fourth place finish to see off the likes of Sheffield, Wakefield, Crewe & Nantwich and Doncaster.

Despite the various challenges presented by the awful conditions and absentees, the squad managed to secure qualification for the auxiliary final to be held at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium in early September.